Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge 2014 Showcase

Michigan’s top social entrepreneur talent will be honored this week at the culmination of the state’s second annual Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Hosted by Michigan Corps., the Friday event at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit will highlight the winners of the challenge, which the state has billed as the nation’s first statewide business plan competition for emerging social enterprises.

The challenge invited individuals and teams to submit plans for ideas for sustainable solutions to a social problem connected to things like chronic unemployment, health, urban revitalization and education.

Six finalists and six runners-up were chosen after 280 business plans were reviewed by a national panel of 30 judges, said Elizabeth Garlow, executive director at Michigan Corps.

Finalists are:

• Wheels for Workers

• On the Rise Bakery

• Welding Artisan Center

• Detroit Food Academy

• Vehicle City Tacos

• City Girls Soap

Runners-up are:

• Youth Transit Alliance

• Lazlo

• Pill Pouch

• Smart Girls Guide to Self-Defense

• BetterHope

• Eden Urban Farms LLC

Winners will be eligible to receive consultation services, training programs and collaborative work space.

The six finalists will also be eligible for a $1,000 People’s Choice award, which will be chosen by the audience during the Friday event.

The evening will include a panel discussion, “A Day in the Life of a Michigan Social Entrepreneur,” featuring winners from the 2013 challenge.